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| St. Philomena Cathedral |
It's been about two weeks since I have arrived in India and I have seen a lot. There's a temple on every corner and a festival every other day. I love it. There's Ganesha which here they call Ganpati who we all know of as the remover of obstacles. There is Krishna who is like their Jesus. He's the blue guy with the flute, the cows, and the virgins that will steal ghee out of your window when your not looking. There's Hanuman the monkey who is a true symbol of devotion. There's the leader of the pack Shiva which you can thank for Virabhadra who is famous for inspiring the warrior series. Finally, I found a little Jesus in the mix. Now... I'm not labeling myself anything but I do dig some Jesus from time to time. He was the ultimate yogi... Selfless, loving and he didn't judge. Today...I needed a little Jesus of the Christ persuasion so I went on my journey through magical Mysore for St. Philomena Cathedral and low and behold I was saved!... Just kidding...There's really nothing to be saved from around here but you get what I'm saying. I found my destination.
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| Inside view |
I took the 119 bus into Mysore city station and hailed a rickshaw to St Philomena Cathedral. It should cost around 35 rupees from Central Bus Station. If you're on meter and the tab keeps ticking past 35 rupee the driver is taking you the long route. I arrived at the gate of St. Philomena and it's surrounded with little stands of hustlers selling candles, incense, rosary's, and religious items so bypass this and go to the gift shop to the right when you walk in the front gate. The money from the gift shop goes to support the orphanage and their school. It's a huge cathedral that towers so far up it's hard to get a picture with the entire church. I walked up to the front side door and saw a bunch of shoes. In India it is tradition to take off your shoes when entering a holy place or temple. Here it's optional. I say leave them on. There is a huge sign that says there is theft in the area. One thing you don't want is to walk around India shoeless. I walked in the huge front door and I was in a different world.
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| Life size crucifix |
It is magnificent inside. There were a few people sitting in the pews and a few people walking around the perimeter. I walked around to each of the stations of the cross for a few moments and took in the view. I noticed under the alter there was a stair case leading down. I walked over and then walked down the staircase. At the bottom of the stair case were numerous names etched on the walls and another alter of the saint Philomena directly under the alter above. There was a hall to the left and one to the right. I looked to the left and there was some activity going on behind a barred door. The kind of activity I see... not what most people see but I bet if you were open enough you could feel the spirits touch you as you walked around. It felt ok but not the usual kind of feeling I get when I see or feel spirit so I tried to focus on the alter. In the alter below is the relic statue of Saint Philomena with an anchor on each side of her surrounded by more etched slates of passed priests and parishioners.
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| Relic of Saint Philomena |
Saint Philomena is believed to be from Italy and was so devoted to God that she refused to marry the emperor of Rome and was tortured by binding her feet to anchors and dropping her in water. The archangels came to her rescue by cutting her lose from the anchors. The emperor later had her shot with arrows but they wouldn't hit her body and some of the arrows even circled back and killed a few of the archers. After many attempts to torture her with no success the emperor beheaded her. She was 13.
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| Dark and long creepy hallway |
To the right of the alter is a dark hallway with more etched slates and the way out. It was very uncomfortable there and if you don't like the dark or you're sensitive to seeing things that go bump in the night....skip that part. The top part of the cathedral is awesome alone.
I came up for air and there it was the same hot sun above me as before. I walked around to the front and looked over to the side of the cathedral and saw the school and the gift shop. I did some rounds of the shop and the school and decided to go back in and sit for a while. I went back into the church and sat for about 30 minutes. On the way in I dipped my finger in some holy water and did a half-ass genuflect (sign of the cross and a little head bump to the Big Papa). It was nice and I felt refreshed emotionally.
I grabbed a rickshaw back to Mysore city market and stopped into Bombay Sweets for a piece of mysore pak and walked over to grab the 119 bus back to Gokulam. Now I'm back in my room resting for tomorrow. It was just the get away I needed. A little Jesus can go a long way. I'm thinking I'll probably be good till at least Christmas. In the land of blue babies and dancing elephants and monkey servants it's good to find a little place for the Big Papa J...(not me..Jesus).
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| Side view of St. Philomena |
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| St.Mary's Children's School |
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